Does democracy equal freedom?
Mainstream media often tell us that people are craving democracy. It is not wrong at all. But the thing is, they believe that they will have freedom after they have democracy. This concept is incorrect. Although they are interrelated, they are different. In this article, you can know how a democracy works and why democracy and freedom are different.
Democracy
‘Government of the people, by the people, for the people’ -- a quote from President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address delivered during the American Civil War. It usually describes a democratic government.
Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislators. Who people are and how authority is shared among them are core issues for democratic theory, development, and constitution. Cornerstones include freedom of religion, press, petition, assembly and speech, inclusiveness and equality, membership, consent, voting, right to life, minority rights, rule of law, and separation of powers.
When compared with other political models that had existed but were eliminated, until now, democracy is the most successful and acceptable model. It is a model that a high degree of freedom can exist in society. The former ones failed because freedom could barely exist or even never exist. For example, the fascist model explained the world as a struggle among different nations and envisioned a world dominated by one human group that violently subdues all others. The communist model explained the world[ as a struggle among different classes and envisioned a world in which all groups are united by a centralised social system that ensures equality even at the price of freedom.
Freedom
Freedom generally means having the ability to act or change without constraint. It is believed that a democratic society cherishes freedom as its number one value. It is not a gift of government or democracy. It is guaranteed by the constitution and law. Government has the power to interpret the constitution and law, therefore freedom is determined by the powers wielded by the government, the one who interprets the law.
Most people take it for granted because they were brought up in it. Most of them couldn’t imagine living in a place where they are not allowed to do things they want to. Imagine living in a detention camp and your freedom is deteriorated. You probably can’t even stay there for 1 hour. In some countries, people are living in these camps and being tortured. How free do you think the people of China, North Korea, Cuba, Libya, Yemen, Uzbekistan, and many others are? In these countries, having free will is not allowed thus impossible.
People living in those countries do not have the right to oppose their government, the right to travel anywhere they want, nor the freedom to pursue their dreams. Opposingly, they have to face oppression every day and to overcome tyrannical governments that gain total control over their precious lives. They can be judged as a forbidder and thrown into prison by a kangaroo court anytime and kept if they don’t adhere to the law interpreted by the government.
Freedom in a democratic society
Under the democratic rule, people can enjoy different rights such as basic human rights and voting (under representative democracy). This makes a majority of people feel so free and believe that they are having freedom from enjoying rights. However, does this mean freedom? In general, it does. It seems like we can choose our councillors and we can have any kind of religious activities. Does this mean we are having freedom?
Democracy is often a cover for tyranny as it is a protection for liberty. Some countries claim themselves ‘democracies’ and have regular elections, yet systematically oppress their people ironically. For example, North Korea calls itself ‘the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’ and China calls itself the ‘People’s Republic of China.’ But the fact is that these countries tolerate citizens suffering from autocracy. Like the Soviet Union which collapsed after the Cold War also has normal elections, elected government bodies, and some choice of candidates too. These are the features of democracy. Nevertheless, it is all a fraud. Voting is mandatory. The only party allowed to run candidates is the Communist Party. Legislatures rubber-stamp the decrees of party bosses. Besides, anyone who objects or tries to threaten the regime ends up dead or being jailed or being cancelled.
Moreover, several countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America also have multi-party democracies but little freedom. Vote fraud is massive. Opposition candidates are often tortured or even murdered by government agents. A small group of elites controls all power. Citizens have little freedom but suffer from a lot of hardship. What of western democracies? Things are better than the time some regimes adopted autocracy, but they are still pretty far from free of fraud, corruption, and manipulation of voters. Even in the United States, more and more people report their votes are not being counted. Electronic voting makes fraud easier and nearly undetectable. Third parties like the Libertarians, face virtually insuperable obstacles including oppressive ballot-access and campaign-finance laws. Only Republicans and Democrats are allowed in televised political debates, and third-party election results are usually not even reported by the mass media. This largely lowers the chance of third-party candidates being elected and shows the freedom in the United States is limited.
Recently, in Hong Kong, you cannot say something that ‘threatens the country’s (China’s) security’ or you will violate the national security law. The fact is, activists, speak out and they are arrested due to violating this law. Can they enjoy the freedom of speech in this case? It is ridiculous that you can’t even express your opinions. It also implies that the government tries to not allow people to oppose it, narrowing the political diversity.
On one hand, fake democracy is a huge threat to freedom. On the other hand, democracy is not freedom. As the 19th Century French philosopher Alexis d’Toqueville warned in his classic text Democracy In America, democracy can be just as tyrannical as a dictatorship once the voters decide to vote themselves money from the treasury. Democracy is only a method of settling down who shall rule the state but it does not assure the morals of the elected government. At the best, democracy means that the government has popular support from the people and the government is more reliable. Nonetheless, popular support does not mean that the government will protect you from losing your freedom. In a democracy, if most voters support freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and enterprise, their elected government will probably respect such freedoms.
But what if voters prefer that governments restore autocracy, impose a welfare state and expropriate taxes, imprison critics, impose censorship, seize the property of minority groups, torture outcasts, and draft the young? A democratic government will mostly fulfill those wishes as well, as long as they are what citizens want. For example, Hitler was elected as the chancellor by-election in 1933. He was infamous for being a dictator. People supported him for being the leader of Germany after the First World War. He upheld nazism and oppressed people. By adopting one-party politics, imposing censorship, setting up brainwashing education and more, he exploited people’s freedom especially Jews’. This implies that democracy doesn’t always bring people freedom. It only does when the majority supports a government that upholds freedom.
You don’t necessarily need democracy to have freedom. Meanwhile, democracy doesn’t essentially grant you freedom. Although they are interrelated, they don’t necessarily coexist. While you cannot enjoy real freedom under democracy, I still believe humans have the space to create our freedom under an environment with limited freedom.
Reference:
